Oklahoma is a copy cat.

Even as the Florida legislature races to undo–with retroactive impact–the cataclysmic effects of its so-called “Mini-TCPA,” the Sooner state has embarked on a copy-cat project that adopts the Florida bill’s misshapen autodialer definition.

And its not OK.

In a new bill–found here–the Oklahoma state legislature is weighing the creation and adoption of the “Telephone Solicitation Act of 2022.” The bill would ban certain categories of automated calls without express WRITTEN consent and also limit the number of attempts that marketers can make and timeframes that calls can be made.

Importantly, the bill’s definition of what constitutes an autodialer tracks the current (and hopefully soon-to-be-amended) Florida bill’s language and is much broader than the real TCPA:

A. A person may not make or knowingly allow a telephonic sales call to be made if such call involves an automated system for the selection or dialing of telephone numbers or the playing of a recorded message when a connection is completed to a number called without the prior express written consent of the called party.

As I’ve explained elsewhere, the “or” is a mighty big deal-it converts most any electronic workflow tool (including to click-to-dial systems) into autodialers and essentially closes the state to marketers lacking express written consent (unless human selection dialing is deployed.)

The bill also tracks the Florida mini-TCPA is including a vague anti-spoofing provision and a curious “use your own voice” requirement. And it tracks Florida’s regrettable rebuttable presumption on usage within the state:

There is a rebuttable presumption that a telephonic sales call made to any area code in this state is made to an Oklahoma resident or to a person in this state at the time of the call.

Importantly, the bill also includes Florida’s now-famous “no more than 3 calls in a 24 hour period” and “stop calling by 8 pm” rules. Unlike the original Florida version, however, it appears there will be a private right of action to enforce this provision of the bill.

If the bill passes and is signed by the governor–which is far from certain at this stage–it will be effective come November 1, 2022. 

As I’ve said many times now, I fully expected the Florida bill to proliferate across the states. It took a little while but as State legislatures return to session I expect other states will now follow Oklahoma’s lead and begin proposing their own anti-marketing legislation. We’ll keep a very close eye on these developments.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

Oh, and be sure to tell people you heard about it first on TCPAWorld.com!